


The Forgotten Sons

by Purpleologist



Category: Supernatural
Genre: (for now) - Freeform, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben is looking for Dean (and doesn't know that it's Dean), Ben/Jesse Shipping is Lowkey, Jesse is looking for Jack (Kline), M/M, Team Free Will, Team Free Will 2.0, eventual destiel, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-06 16:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14060463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpleologist/pseuds/Purpleologist
Summary: Jesse Turner and Ben Braeden are hunting two very important things; Ben's lost memories and the elusive son of Lucifer.--~--“Where’s the Nephilim?” he growled, hand clenched in a fist as the angel gasped for air. “Where is he?”“I-I don’t know!” the monster-wearing-a-man insisted, his vessel going blue in the face from both the lack of oxygen and the rise of grace. The man (though boy was much more fitting of his small stature and babyish face) squeezed further, anger and demon blood pulsing within his veins.“Where is Lucifer’s son?” he asked, punctuating each word by tightening his psychic grip.“Lebanon,” his victim whimpered. “Lebanon, Kansas. The Winchesters have him.” The desperate angel’s hands grabbed wildly, unable to find purchase on the invisible force strangling his neck.With a flick of his hand, the young cambion snapped the vessel’s neck, an annoyed look on a face that should’ve been too young to know murder, and the glowing grace flickered beneath the man’s lifeless eyes… and died.Jesse Turner sighed, wiping the blood that trickled from his nose off with a still-clenched hand.“Kansas, huh?”





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cambion](https://archiveofourown.org/works/221050) by [callowyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/callowyn/pseuds/callowyn), [thegeminisage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegeminisage/pseuds/thegeminisage). 



> Beta-ed by the wonderful [KToon](https://aminoapps.com/c/supernatural/page/user/ktoon/eMCm_fdd34xaJ7lGoqqarZZXYznrQx)

           “Where’s the Nephilim?” he growled, hand clenched in a fist as the angel gasped for air. “Where is he?”

           “I-I don’t know!” the monster-wearing-a-man insisted, his vessel going blue in the face from both the lack of oxygen and the rise of grace. The man (though boy was much more fitting of his small stature and babyish face) squeezed further, anger and demon blood pulsing within his veins.

           “Where is Lucifer’s son?” he asked, punctuating each word by tightening his psychic grip.

           “Lebanon,” his victim whimpered. “Lebanon, Kansas. The Winchesters have him.” The desperate angel’s hands grabbed wildly, unable to find purchase on the invisible force strangling his neck.

           With a flick of his hand, the young cambion snapped the vessel’s neck, an annoyed look on a face that should’ve been too young to know murder, and the glowing grace flickered beneath the man’s lifeless eyes… and died.

           Jesse Turner sighed, wiping the blood that trickled from his nose off with a still-clenched hand.

           “Kansas, huh?”

 

**\--~--**

 

           “Dammit!” Jesse cried, storming into the run-down shack and kicking the first sturdy door frame he found. “God-fucking-dammit!” he cursed.

           “Let me guess…” the calming voice of one Ben Braeden began, walking in from another room, beer in hand. “You didn’t get anything?” He handed the frustrated young man a drink.

           “No, I got something. Right before the damn thing killed itself.” Ben grimaced, taking a sip with the sour expression still on his face. Jesse hated lying to Ben, but if he knew how much he used his powers, and how often he killed with them, the young hunter would no longer be able to look him in the eyes.

           “So where’s the son of Satan hiding out then?” he asked, a softer, more curious expression settling over his handsome features.

           “Kansas. With the Winchesters,” Jesse answered with a furious swig of his drink, watching an annoyed expression take over Ben’s face.

           “Dammit,” he whispered, tossing the now-empty can into an almost-filled trash bag. “The Winchesters? Really?” Ben asked, crossing his arms in clear annoyance. Neither of them were exactly excited to have to hunt down the infamous brothers. On top of the fact that they were probably the best hunters alive (which was a debatable statement considering that rumors of both brothers dying and returning were more popular than Bigfoot), Jesse and Ben were most definitely not their biggest fans. Jesse tended to avoid them due to the fact that they’d driven him out of his childhood home in Alliance, Nebraska, and though Ben had no personal issues with them directly, the fact that they’d started several apocalypses was reason enough.

           “Look, if you want to stop now, go back to trying to recover your memories and find your dad,” he offered, silently hoping that they could give up and go back to their old ways of traveling all over and looking for cases all while hoping to stumble upon Ben’s absentee father.

           “No! We’ve come this far!” Ben cried, practically grinning from ear to ear. “Jess, we know where the Nephilim is! We’re so close and when we find him, he’ll be able to help you!” Jesse tried not to smile, but the energy was infectious. Ben was right. They were this close to finding the Nephilim, which meant Jesse was that much closer to finding someone else like him, another person stuck between human and hell-sent, another halfling. This son of Lucifer was his last chance.

           His last chance to not be seen as a monster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uuuggghhh I'm sorry for the short chapter, but this is really the extent of what I can put in this one, but I promise that the other chapters will be longer. (Seriously, chapter two is 1.5k+ words, and it's beta-ed and READY, but I'm gonna limit myself to one chapter a week, so you're gonna have to wait, BUT I PROMISE THAT THE STORY WILL BE FINISHED AND IT WILL HAVE LONG CHAPTERS)


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Jesse make their way to the Winchesters' bunker and plan to surprise the brothers, but thanks to Castiel's powers, Team Free Will is made aware of their impending arrival and are given time to prepare.

           Their stolen car rumbled down the road, slowly nearing the home of the legendary Winchester brothers. After a month of hacking and tracking a bit of underworld dealings on Jesse’s side, the pair had managed to find out where their mythical bunker sat. If Jesse had been alone, he simply would’ve teleported, but Ben was here, which meant that this rickety old death trap was their only mode of transportation.

           As they drew nearer, however, Jesse began to doubt that he would’ve been able to teleport at all. Waves of nausea washed over him periodically, sapping his energy and power with ease.

           “Jess, you okay?” Ben asked, casting a worried glance as the cambion swayed in his seat, face going green.

           “I’m fine, they just…” Jesse’s vision swam, causing his stomach to churn. “They have a _lot_ of warding.” Ben smiled sympathetically, placing a hand on Jesse’s knee and squeezing lightly.

           “It’ll be over soon, I promise,” he told him, the words an obvious lie that was meant purely to comfort him. Normally, it would’ve done nothing, but something in Jesse warmed at the simple phrase.

           If only it was true.

 

           Dean Winchester relaxed in his seat as he took a long sip from his coffee mug. Despite the fact that his mother and Jack had been in a mysterious, alternate world for weeks now, they finally had a solution that was actually making decent progress. Maybe, _just_ maybe, they’d fix this soon. 

           Castiel walked into the map room silently, shooting Dean a quick smile as he sat down.

           “Morning, sunshine,” Dean greeted, returning the smile. “Find anything interesting?” he asked, hoping that the angel had found a simple case to fill their time.

           “I found nothing that appeared to be our kind of thing,” he told him. “But I did sense a powerful presence early this morning.”

           “What kind of presence?” the hunter asked, worry lacing his once-calm expression.

           “It seemed to be a demon, but… something felt off.” Castiel frowned, disliking the mystery surrounding the possible foe.

           “Awesome,” Dean said sarcastically, standing up and taking a final drink from his mug. “Go wake up Sammy, I’ll get the weapons ready.”

 

           When they finally arrived at the bunker, Jesse was close to throwing up, passing out, or both. Before getting out of the car, Ben shot another worried look in his direction.

           “Are you sure you want to do this? You look like a zombie,” Ben said, frowning at the sickly-looking figure next to him.

           “Wow, thanks,” Jesse told him sarcastically, sitting up with a determined look on his green face. Ben cracked a smile, but it hardly dispelled the concern written all over his features. Jesse smothered the nauseous feeling rising in his gut and forced a smile. “Seriously, Ben, I’m fine.”

           “Okay…” he agreed, his expression unwavering as they climbed out of the car and walked over to the metal door.

           “This is it.” Jesse whispered, casting a nervous glance in Ben’s direction. “Are you ready?”

           “Born ready.”

 

           The original Team Free Will stood in the map room, weapons poised and at the ready. Cas had warned them that the demonic presence had grown closer, eventually arriving at their front door. Whatever this demon was, it would not be getting in easy.

           The bunker door banged, lights flickering as the three men tensed. This demon was powerful. The last time the lights went like this, the angels were falling.

           The noise continued until, finally, the heavy door swung open, clanging loudly as it slammed into the wall.

           From the shadows of the doorway, two figures stepped forward, too small to be adults and too large to be children (which was a possibility. You could never quite be sure with monsters). They stepped into the light to reveal young men, barely out of their teens and smiles too wide to be seasoned hunters.

           “Sam and Dean Winchester?” one of them asked, looking down at them from behind the railing. He seemed unfazed by the weapons aimed at him and the two brothers exchanged a look.

           “Who’s asking?” Dean said, trying to get a clearer look at the second intruder, who was hanging back behind his friend.

           “My name is Jesse Turner,” he explained, the name failing to ring any bells in Dean’s mind. “and I heard you had a Nephilim.”

 

           “What do you want with Jack?” the tallest man (Jesse assumed it was Sam. The younger Winchester had towered over his brother even when they had first met) asked defensively, keeping his gun trained on Jesse as he made his way down the staircase, Ben following almost hesitantly.

           “Not to hurt him, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Jesse told him, noticing that the angel in the trenchcoat had changed little since he had turned him into an action figure.

           “We just want to talk,” Ben assured them, making a display of sticking his gun in the back of his waistband. The men eyed them cautiously, sparse glances obviously holding the weight of thousands of words.

           “Fine,” Dean agreed, setting down his gun as well. “Beer? You two are legal, right?” he asked, gaze lingering on Ben.

           “Aren’t all hunters?” Ben supplied with a smile, earning a small chuckle as the man pulled a few bottles from a mini fridge. Dean placed the beers on the table, offering the two seats at the map table. Ben sat down, taking a long drink as Jesse eyed the angel nervously. The last time they'd spoken, he'd tried to kill him. Despite the fact that the apocalypse was long over, a cambion was still quite the weapon to have and Jesse wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to let his guard down around him.

           Reluctantly, Jesse sat, taking a quick sip from the bottle. As soon as the liquid touched his lips, it burned like fire, causing him to spit and sputter. Instantly, the Winchesters leapt into action, Dean holding a serrated blade against his neck and Sam poised with a gun trained on his head.

           "I'm not a demon," he argued, the blade stinging along with the burn of the holy water-laced beer. 

           "Really? See, for some reason I have a hard time believing you," Dean said harshly, pressing the blade into his neck. Jesse risked a glance at Ben, who had found himself on the wrong end of an angel blade when he had stood to help.

           "Exorcizamus te..." Sam began from memory. 

           "I'm not a demon! Don't you two remember me!" Jesse cried, the words of the exorcism doing nothing but acting as an annoyance. He often had to leave whenever Ben performed an exorcism or risk having a headache for several days afterwards.

           "Omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica..."

           "He's not a demon! Won't you listen!" Ben cried, struggling against the angel's grip.

           "Audi nos," Sam finished, watching Jesse expectantly. The room is silent for several seconds before Jesse releases an exasperated sigh.

           "Not a demon. And you two are fucking idiots," he told them, grabbing Dean's arm to move the knife away from his neck.

           "So what the hell are you?" Dean asked, still gripping the knife tightly.

           "Well, as I said, my name is Jesse Turner. I'm a cambion." He glanced around at all three of the men, waiting for them to recognize the term they'd forced onto him years ago.

           "Half-human, half-demon?" he added expectantly. "I'm the fucking Antichrist!" Jesse finally cried, snapping his fingers and sparking a small flame on the tip of his fingers.

           "Ohhhhh," Dean whispered, pocketing the blade as the realization hit Sam as well.

           "Yeah," he said, snapping to dispel the flame and glaring at the men who now seemed more embarrassed than anything. "Last time I saw you guys, you led my demon father to my house and forced me to choose between stopping the apocalypse and fucking dying!"

           "I mean, technically we just said you _could_ die." Sam supplied, earning an unamused look from Jesse.

           "Regardless, I spent ten years in Australia to hide from anyone who would want to kill me, and then I come back and people still want to kill me. Or... recruit me," he explained, crossing his arms.

           "So what do you want with Jack? He's a Nephilim, half-angel," Sam asked, having long since placed the gun down.

           "He's half-human too. Just like me. I figured he and I were in the same boat and thought a friend on the angel's side might stop them from trying to murder me all the time." Jesse cast a knowing glance at the angel. "I never did get your name, trenchcoat."

           "My name is Castiel," he told him, Ben shifting uncomfortably in the corner of his vision.

           "Oh, and this is my... friend, Ben." Jesse took Ben's hand and urged him forward, smiling at the young hunter.

           "B-ben?" Dean stuttered, staring at him.

           "Yeah," he told him. "Ben Braeden." The older Winchester went pale, shooting his brother a look that Sam seemed to instantly understand.

           "Well, uh, Jack's not here right now, but we have plenty of guest rooms if you need a place to sleep. Lebanon doesn't exactly have the best motels," Sam said, quickly drawing the attention away from the sick look on Dean's face.

           "That would be awesome! I can't remember the last time I slept on an actual bed!" Ben said, smiling warmly and failing to notice the panicked look on Dean's face when he had introduced himself.

           There was something off about Dean Winchester, something that had to do with Ben.

           He was missing four years of his life, four years where he had absolutely no idea what truly went on or who he met. And Jesse had a feeling that Dean knew something about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologize for taking so long on posting this! I've been so busy with other projects (and this one) that I forgot to update on here!


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean struggles to deal with the revelation that Ben is a hunter while Sam attempts to learn about how the pair met and suggests a plan that benefits all of them.

           "Ben's a hunter." Dean mumbled, taking a long drink of his beer as he stared blankly at the wall. "Ben... Ben is a hunter."

           "Dean," Cas said, placing a hand on his back in an effort to comfort him. "You don't know what happened. It could have nothing to do with you."

           "Or it could have everything to do with me." 

           "You won't know until you ask," the angel told him.

           "Yeah, how do you start that conversation? 'Hi Ben, I'm the man who lived with you and your mother and almost got you killed, any chance that's not why you became a hunter?'" he rambled sarcastically, taking another, long drink. Castiel had no answer to that statement and merely gave Dean a one-armed hug, hoping that the man understood how much he hated that he had to go through this.

           Dean had suffered greatly after he had decided to wipe Lisa and Ben's memories, often asking Cas what he would have done if it had been him and beating himself up over the fact that the boy that he had once considered a son no longer recognized him, and even resented him.

           "I wonder if Lisa knows..." Dean said numbly.

           "I highly doubt it. From what little I knew of her, I doubt she would allow her son to hunt monsters this far away from home with only a cambion for company." Dean mustered a weak laugh.

           "Guess that means I'll have to watch out for him then," he said, getting up and setting the empty bottle in the trash. "Not that I doubt his skills, I just don't trust that Jesse kid. Last time we saw him, he was turning the Tooth Fairy real, and now he's blasting open bunker doors and starting fires?"

           "His power fluctuates with the presence and strength of Lucifer. When we first discovered him, Lucifer had only just risen and he was young. Now he is older and... I have heard rumors that Lucifer has control of Heaven," Castiel explained.

           "Lucifer? In Heaven? You've got to be kidding," Dean said, seemingly thankful for the change in subject.

           "It's merely a rumor..." he said, hoping to put Dean's mind at ease slightly. "For now, let us focus on dealing with Jesse and Ben and getting Mary and Jack home."  
  


           "So.... What have you been up to, Jesse?" Sam asked, leading the two boys through the winding hallways.

           "It's Jess," he explained, barely noticing the brief look of pain on the man's face. "And, like I said, I was in Australia for a while. My powers weren't too bad when I was that far away from everything that was going down, and after a while I figured I'd come back here, visit my family and friends." 

           "That's good," Sam agreed, casting a quick glance back at Ben. The boy had grown up a lot since he had last seen him and Sam couldn't help but notice that the young man's appearance wasn't that far from Dean's when he was younger. Dean insisted that Ben wasn't actually his, but the boy carried so many similar mannerisms that Sam had never quite believed him. "So how did you two meet?" he asked.

           "It's a funny story, really," Ben began, sharing a smile with Jesse. "I was hunting some demons in Kentucky and after I exorcised 'em, I found Jesse tied up in another room, knocked out cold." Jesse rolled his eyes but retained the smile, seemingly amused by Ben's rendition of the story. "I tested him, as you do, and when I got to the holy water he woke up _screaming_!" Jesse scoffed, giving Sam the impression that the actual events had been a bit different, but he found himself smiling at the pair's easy-going nature. 

           "They had been torturing me for days." Jesse explained. "Apparently they were hunting my father and for some reason assumed that I would've known where he was."

           "Oh..." Sam said quietly, quietly amazed by the fact that this couldn't have happened more than a few years ago and yet the two were laughing about it already.

           "After I realized that Jesse was just a big ol' teddy bear rather than a hellspawn, he and I stuck together and have been hunting as a team ever since," Ben finished,  reminiscent smile on his face. Sam recognized that look. It was a look that Dean often got when he was talking about the cases that he and Cas had worked alone. His suspicion grew, but he kept his opinions quiet. He had long since learned that some people didn't like it when he assumed things about them, namely Dean, and if Ben was anything like his "father", he surely wouldn't enjoy Sam pointing out the lovesick look on his face.  
  


           That afternoon, while Cas was giving the boys a tour of most of the bunker (he was not allowed to show them the dungeon, just in case Jesse found himself stuck in the massive Devil's Trap), Sam confronted Dean in the kitchen. His brother was dutifully cooking a meal, one that Sam distinctly remember him naming as Ben's favorite.

           "So..." He leaned against the counter. "How are you doing?"

           "I'm fine, Sam. I am fan-fucking-tastic," Dean said through gritted teeth, glaring down at the food on the stove.

           "Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you won't punch me for bringing up Lisa and Ben anymore," Sam breached, distinctly remembering the one time he'd made that mistake and ended up with a bloody nose.

           "Real funny, Sammy," Dean muttered, shooting his brother the stink eye while he plated the food.

           "Seriously, Dean, what are you going to do about this? I mean, it's Ben," Sam said, as if it wasn't apparent enough.

           "I'm going to make dinner," he told him. "I am going to make dinner and do research and look for cases, because nothing has changed. We just have guests and that is all," he said monotonously, taking a deep breath. "Ben doesn't—Ben _shouldn't_ remember me at all. If he doesn't, there's no difference between him and every other kid hunter we've met."

           "Dead before their thirties?" Sam supplied skeptically.

           "Reckless."  
  


           The mismatched group ate in silence, the overall oddness of it all bringing no words forth. After all, what could be said when two boys who had last been young and innocent showed up at your doorstep insisting they meet with the son of Lucifer?

           "So, uh..." Ben broke the silence, glancing around the table. "Where is Jake?"

           "Jack," Jesse quickly corrected, returning to his food without another word. As much as he distrusted these hunters, they seemed to think just the same, with their nervous glances and whispered conversations. Luckily, Ben was not afraid to break the ice in these situations, which often made him the front-runner when they were investigating cases.

           "Right," he agreed. "You guys said he wasn't here 'right now', but we've been here for hours..." Ben looked at each of them expectantly. "What, did you lose him or something?"

           "Not exactly," Sam began, letting Dean stew in his silence. "He tried to help us save our mother and he ended up getting stuck in an alternate dimension."

           "We've been working on a way to reopen a rift for some time now, but it takes great power to break the dimensional barrier," Castiel explained.

           "Hmm..." Ben said, thinking for a moment. "Maybe Jesse can do it."

           "What?" The rest of the party said in unison, all equally surprised by what Ben considered to be a simple statement.

           "Jesse's got powers. If he can open the door to your bunker with your warding messing with him, I'm sure with some training he could open a rift," he explained, said cambion's expression only growing more surprised.

           "Ben, these powers... they're really dangerous. I thought you said you didn't want me to use them," Jesse told him, confused as to why he was suddenly supporting the use of these hellish abilities.

           "We came here to talk to Jack, we might as well help them save him," Ben shrugged.

           "I could help train you, Jess," Sam suggested. "I had powers like yours once, so I might be able to help."

           "And perhaps Dean can help Ben improve his hunting skills," Cas supplied hopefully, only earning a dead-eyed glare from the man for his efforts.

           "That would be awesome! Cas showed us the gun range and I'd love to give it a shot." Ben smirked at his pun, rising a groan out of Jesse.

           Castiel nudged Dean, encouraging him to answer and, after several awkward minutes, the man grumbled out a muffled "sure", shoveling food in his mouth in his usual surly fashion.  
Sam shot his older brother a look, meant to be something along the lines of ‘ _Stop being an asshole_ ’, and Jesse and Ben exchanged a nervous glance.

           This was _not_ going to be fun.


End file.
